Systems Engineering Intern Review

The work was quite varied and challenging at times, with a lot of interesting tasks assigned.

I felt quite quite involved during my time at Thales, I was trusted to write reports, conduct tests and give presentations on my own or with a small group of people. I felt like a valued member of my team.

I was given a fair amount of support by my supervisors over the course of my placement. They were fairly approachable and would happliy answer any questions that I had.

Most of the time I was kept fairly busy and at times quite busy, which I enjoyed.

I was given a sizeable amount of responsibility during my time at Thales, often being trusted working on my own to complete a task and to meet deadlines.

The skills gained in my particular role related more to "softer" skills such as communication, teamworking and organisation (which are still important and not to be undervalued) while the technical knowledge I'd learned during university enabled me to recognize features of the equipment I was working with. I developed some of my technical information but not quite as much as I would have liked.

Office work was relaxed, with an open-plan environment and the freedom to move around and talk to people.

It was set up quite well. I was given recommendations for areas to move to and they even made allowances to push back my starting date to one that was more convenient for me.

The consistency of the formal training was mixed, I received quite good training for some of the tasks I was asked to do and little training for others. I had regular meetings with my line manager to discuss specific types of work for me to do and he always did his best to ensure I was exposed to different areas of the business and learning as much as I could.

I would say the prospects are quite good. The GDP (Graduate Development Programme) which new graduates are placed on, provides the opportunity to work towards chartership and even allows business graduates to move between different Thales sites

I had quite a good relationship with the graduate community in Thales, and got to know more people through the gym, project work and such. I unfortunately did not get to know many other interns during my time here, but I would definitely say that the social scene amongst the graduates is quite good.

The cost of living is quite reasonable given the area at around £100 per week on average for renting in the area (in Horley, Surrey or in Crawley, West Sussex). Socialising is quite easy as well as there are quite good transport links into Crawley from the surrounding areas and a short train journey into London.

The nightlife in the area is decent. There are a number of restaurants, pubs and clubs in the area and the town centre is easily accessible.

Thales has its own social club which organises the likes of theatre trips, obstacle courses etc. The gym also hosts its own events on and off site.